Scribbles Abroad

Over a month ago we left Jeffery’s Bay in search of adventure.  Kahi and I both wanted to go to Mozambique but needed a little motivation to move on from J-Bay.  The waves in Jbay were really good which made it very difficult to leave.  One day while surfing we randomly met another couple from Oahu, Kim and Todd, who also wanted to check out Mozambique.  After a few days of planning we were pumped up and ready to be getting back on the road.  My birthday was on Thursday so we decided to leave on Sunday to give us a couple days to recuperate and get ready for the journey.

The horseback ride in J-bay was beautiful.  Though the trees, over the sand dune, and onto the beach.

For my 25th B-day Kahi took me horseback riding.  It was my first time and it was soooo much fun!  Well besides the fact that the next day my whole body hurt.  The horse stables were right out side of J-bay and the ride took you through some trees then over some sand dunes and then onto the beach.  I was pretty nervous at first.  You’re so high up on the horse and all they told me was to pull back on the reigns if I wanted to stop and to give the horse a little kick if I wanted to go faster.  I got the hang of it pretty quickly but only after my bottom got a little bruised up.

Johnny Walker shots!
Later that evening we invited a few friends over for a brai (BBQ).  We had Kim and Todd over plus another couple from Tahiti, Poema and Noah, and the crew from up stairs Roy, Ken, Kurt and Noma, Herbie and his wife.  Kim and Poema made me a beautiful lei and haku lei and for the evening I felt like I was back in Hawaii.  We proceeded to stuff ourselves with delicious food and tasty deserts complimented with wine, beer, champagne and shots of Brandy and Johnny Walker.  I had such an awesome time and would like to send out many many thank you’s to everyone who helped me celebrate.

We were supposed to leave on Sunday but we woke up to a fresh swell, perfect winds, and the surf was AMAZING!  Needless to day we didn’t leave.  It was one of the best day we’ve seen at J-bay so we ended up spending the whole day surfing our brains out.  The next day was on shore and crap, making it the perfect day to hit the road.

Finally hitting the road! From left to right:  Roy, Ken, Kim, Todd, Kahi, Louise, Kurt and Butters.

Our first stop was Chinsta West a small town just north of East London.  There were a couple of places to stay in East London, but staying in a big city isn’t quite as nice or safe.  We checked into a backpackers called Buccaneers and scored one of the dorms to ourselves.  Nothing like paying dorm prices and getting our own little private house.  It was a pretty nice backpackers with a great bar but the town didn’t have much to offer, the surf sucked, and so we packed up and continued north to Umdumbe in the Transkei.

The drive to Umdumbe was a long 6 hour drive with the last hour on a pothole infested road.  The Transkei was different from other places in South Africa.  The majority of the population lives in what are called rondevals, round one room huts with roofs made of straw or grass.  These are sometimes painted in bright colors ranging from pink to fluorescent green.  The colorful homes stand out in comparison to the brown grass covered landscape.

Transkei beauty

The people of the Transkei were not affected as badly by the apartheid and you can feel the difference in the energy of the community.  In the Tanskei people seem happier and the quality of life appears to be higher. During apartheid it was set aside for the coloured community to live in a homeland with no segregation, though I doubt white people would have wanted to live there at the time.  The people lived in village communities without influences from the head governments run by the whites.

We made it to Umdumbe smoothly and tried to check into the only backpackers in the area.  Unluckily they were fully booked for a special convention they were holding, some kind of therapy with dolls, creepy.  The other accommodation in the area was pretty rundown so we booked it to Coffee Bay about 20k away.  There were a handful of backpackers and small hotels but we scored a little two bedroom flat at a place called 4 Winds.  The couple that owns the flat also run an orphanage right outside of town called Khaya Letu which takes in children who are directly affected by HIV or AIDS.  Many of the kids have lost their parents to the virus and/or are infected themselves.  The orphanage not only educates, feeds, and shelters the kids it more importantly offers them a home filled with love.

The kids were so excited about their new toys and had a great time coloring away

When we drove up to Khaya Letu the kids came running to the gate and were so excited to see us.   All they really wanted was a big hug.  We brought all sorts of goodies that were donated  by Ethan, David and Linda Altschuler that the kids loved.  Crayons, pens, color pencils, paints, and tons of books to stimulate their minds.  We spent the afternoon coloring with them and playing on their cool jungle gym.  It was a great experience to spend our day with these amazing kids and to see their big smiles and bright eyes.

Kids of Khaya Letu showing off their skills

Later that evening we ran into some locals selling their daily catch, a big bag of live lobsters (or crayfish as they call them here).  We bought a few and took them to the Sugar Loaf across the street where we were going to eat dinner.  Their chef a the time, Rocko, is an amazing chef.  He cooked us up a seafood feast including oysters, lobster, two types of fish, and mussels.  The meal was one of the best we’ve had the whole time in South Africa.  Needless to say we stuffed ourselves and went to bed very happy.  Best part, it only cost about $8US!

Lobster feast at the Sugar Loaf

The next day we were planning on absailing (rock repelling) and going to the Hole In The Wall but the weather wasn’t very good.  Instead we decided to pack up and continue heading north.

The next town we stopped in was Scottsburgh about 30 minutes south or Durban.  Its a small town with not much to do but fish and surf if the conditions were right.  Again we got lucky with our accommodation and ended up staying in a holiday flat in a 6 story building overlooking one of the surfbreaks in the area.  We could see the buoys that marked a shark net that was put in place to protect swimmers and surfers.  This was not the most comforting site considering that it only ran for a couple hundred feet.  It seemed like a shark could easily swim right around the net and it served as a constant reminder that the sharks were nearby.

Kahi shaping his Alaia in Scottsburgh

After a couple days spent relaxing in Scottsboro it was time to head to Durban to exchange our four door compact in for a bigger more comfortable 4×4.  We got to Durban International Airport at around 10:00am but didn’t end up getting out of there until 2:00pm.  The rental car company reserved us a Honda CRV but they weren’t 100% sure that it was four wheel dive, which was must for Mozambique.  After trying  to search for another car we decided to go with the CRV and if it didn’t work out for any reason we could call the rental company and they would sort it out for us.